Archive

In this section you will find all previous government advice that has been published throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

The archive information includes the following:


Job Support Scheme

The new Job Support Scheme will take effect from 1 November 2020, and will run for six months until 30 April 2021.  The scheme aims to protect viable jobs in businesses who are facing lower demand over the winter months due to COVID-19.  Specifically, it will target government help towards businesses who need it most, especially small and medium sized enterprises.

Under this scheme, workers must work for at least one third of their contracted hours, and will be paid for these hours at the worker’s full normal rate of pay.  For every hour not worked by the employee, both the government and the employer will each pay one third of the value of the worker’s normal hourly wage.  The government’s contribution will be capped at £697.92 per month.

Under this scheme, employees can expect to earn a minimum of 77% of their normal wages.  Employers can use this scheme in respect of employees who haven’t been furloughed before and even if the company as a whole has never used the furlough scheme before.  Employers can still use the Job Retention Bonus Scheme in respect of workers who have been furloughed previously, while using the Job Support Scheme.

Employees cannot be made redundant or put on notice of redundancy during the period within which their employer is claiming the Job Support Scheme grant for that employee.

 Eligibility for Employers and Employees

Which employers are eligible?

  • All employers with a UK bank account and UK PAYE schemes can claim the grant.
  • All small and medium enterprises are eligible; there are no financial criteria to meet.

Large businesses will have to meet certain financial criteria, and specifically will have to show that their turnover is lower now due to COVID-19 difficulties.
 
Which employees are eligible?

  • Employees must be on an employer’s payroll, and have had an RTI submission notifying payment to that employee on or before 23 September 2020.
  • For at least the first three months of the scheme, the employee must work at least 33% of their usual hours.
  • Employees can move on and off this scheme, but each short-time working period must cover a minimum period of 7 days.

Employees do not have to work the same pattern of hours each month.
 
Grant payments

  • The grant arrangements cover every contracted hour not worked by the employee.
  • Grant payments will be made in arrears, reimbursing the employer for the government’s contribution.
  • The grant does not cover Class 1 employer NICs or pension contributions; these remain payable solely by the employer.
  • ‘Usual wages’ calculations will be made in a similar way to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and this should be calculated without reference to previously furloughed weeks.
  • Grants will only be paid to reimburse wage costs already incurred.

Employers must agree the new short-time working arrangements with their workers, make any changes to their employment contract by agreement, and notify the employee in writing. The agreement must be made available to the HMRC upon request.
 
Example
Gordon usually works five days a week and earns £500 per week.  His employer is suffering from reduced workload due to coronavirus.  Rather than making Gordon redundant, the employer puts him on the Job Support Scheme, working 2 days per week (40% of his usual hours).
The employer pays Gordon £200 for the days he works.  For the period spent not working each week (3 days, or 60%, worth £300) he will be paid two thirds of what would have been his usual earnings, i.e. £200.

Gordon’s total payment during such a week on the Job Support Scheme would be £400, or 80% of his normal weekly wage.  The employer will pay this total sum to Gordon in the normal way on his normal pay day.

The government will reimburse Gordon’s employer by giving a grant worth £100 (one third of the value of the hours not worked, equivalent to 20% of his weekly wage).




Further details about the Job Support Scheme will be made available by the government and HMRC in due course.

Self-employed Income Support Scheme (SEISS)

The SEISS exists to support self-employed people whose trading has been adversely affected by COVID-19.  The extension of this scheme has new parameters as detailed below.

Eligibility

The government has indicated that they will extend the SEISS in order to continue to support eligible self-employed people meaning that they must:

  • currently be eligible for the SEISS (whether or not they have previously claimed any SEISS grant)
  • declare that they are currently actively trading, and intend to continue to trade

declare that they are impacted by reduced demand due to COVID-19 in the qualifying period
 
What does the grant cover?

The extension of the scheme will last for six months from November 2020 to April 2021.  A maximum of two grants can be claimed during this time, and each will cover a three-month period.  The grants are subject to Income Tax and National Insurance Contributions.

Grant 1

  • Covers a three-month period from the start of November until the end of January
  • A taxable grant covering 20% of average monthly trading profits
  • Paid in a single instalment covering three months’ worth of profits
  • Capped at £1,875 in total

Grant 2

  • Covers a three-month period from the start of February until the end of April
  • The level of support available in Grant 2 will be finalised in due course 

How to claim?
The government will issue further details about how to claim these grants in due course.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme

The government has indicated that any business which took out a Bounce Bank Loan will be able to pay this back more flexibly using a new ‘Pay as You Grow’ repayment system.

Under the new system, businesses can:

  • extend the term of their loan from six years to ten years, effectively almost halving the value of monthly repayments
  • apply to take advantage of a six-month interest-only repayment period
  • apply to take a payment holiday on their loan

The application deadline for this loan scheme has now been extended until the end of November.
A new loan scheme is being devised which will be available in January 2021.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme

The government will also give commercial lenders who have offered Coronavirus Business Interruption Loans the ability to extend the terms of such loans from a maximum of six years to ten years if it will help businesses to repay the loan.

The application deadline for this loan scheme has now been extended until the end of November.

Other Extended Loan Application Periods

Other government-devised loan scheme application deadlines will also be extended to the end of November, including:

  • Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme
  • Future Fund

 

VAT Deferral Extension and Flexible Repayment terms

Businesses who have arranged to defer payment of their VAT bills until the end of March 2021 can now take advantage of more favourable repayment terms under the New Payment Scheme.  This scheme gives the option to pay back a deferred tax bill in 11 smaller interest-free payments during the 2021/22 financial year.

The government has announced that it will extend the temporary 15% VAT cut for the tourism and hospitality sectors until the end of March 2021.

In addition, self-assessment taxpayers with liability for up to £30,000 will be able to benefit from a separate additional 12-month extension from HMRC on the “Time to Pay” self-service facility, meaning payments deferred from July 2020, and those due in January 2021, will now not need to be paid until January 2022.